Just an observation - most of the talk in favor of diversity emphasizes the good aspects of minority groups. But what happens if the data mining results show the opposite? Will the proponents of diversity argue against what they didn't expect to see?

Exactly ... diversity is no panacea.

Let's have a course discussing crime by racial groups, and how that should increase premiums. Or, how about IQs by racial groups, and how that should impact premiums.

Just an observation - most of the talk in favor of diversity emphasizes the good aspects of minority groups. But what happens if the data mining results show the opposite? Will the proponents of diversity argue against what they didn't expect to see?

Of course they will. The idea is that minorities aren't represented enough to justify a bias towards certain minority groups (you lack data). So you then have diversity programs to boost your sample size. What would happen if you end up seeing trends which show that the initial bias was justified? Then your diversity programs are simply discriminatory and the best candidates aren't being hired.

Of course they will. The idea is that minorities aren't represented enough to justify a bias towards certain minority groups (you lack data). So you then have diversity programs to boost your sample size. What would happen if you end up seeing trends which show that the initial bias was justified? Then your diversity programs are simply discriminatory and the best candidates aren't being hired.

I don't really know how many people view that as the idea. I think most people in support of increasing diversity just view it as a way for their group to try to get an advantage.

Machine learning can certainly be used to understand the dynamics of populations but when will it be unleashed as the ultimate self coaching mechanism so that individuals can learn about and improve themselves more efficiently. It's kind of like when people in their 40s and 50s first learned in the 1990s that their credit score was important.

Why do we want to keep Joe Q public ignorant with no mobility? I guess in a capitalistic society it is more fruitful to keep people enslaved so you can make some bucks off them. I remember as a kid in the 70s keeping journals and stats on everything I partook in so that I could study and improve my performance in any and everything.